Urban Wind Turbine Claims The Prestigious International James Dyson Award

Inspired by a NASA space rover, two young
inventors from Chile and Kenya want to
make electricity in windy cities

From climate change, to poverty,
global issues increasingly demand collaborative, cross-cultural responses.
Originating from Chile and Kenya respectively, Nicolas Orellana and Yaseen
Noorani represent a new era of talent that are working together to develop
technologies that are capable of tackling our shared problems. Studying

International Innovation MSc
together at Lancaster University,
they set out to harness urban wind with an inventive new type of turbine. But
what’s the problem with wind?

The
taller we build our cities, the windier they become. As we hunt for renewable
sources of power generation this powerful and plentiful resource is left
untapped largely because traditional wind turbines only capture wind travelling
in one direction. This means they are very inefficient in cities where the wind
is unpredictable and multi-directional.

When
wind blows through cities it becomes trapped between buildings, is dragged down
to the street and is pushed up into the sky. This catapults wind into chaos,
which renders conventional turbines unusable. Using a simple geometric shape, O-Wind
Turbine is designed to utilise this powerful untapped resource, generating
energy even on the windiest of days.

Sir James Dyson said: “Design something that solves a
problem is an intentionally broad brief. It invites talented, young inventors
to do more than just identify real problems. It empowers them to use their
ingenuity to develop inventive solutions. O-Wind Turbine does exactly that. It
takes the enormous challenge of producing renewable energy and using geometry
it can harness energy in places where we’ve scarcely been looking – cities.
It’s an ingenious concept.”

Nicolas
Orellana first became interested in the challenge of multidirectional wind
after studying NASA’s
Mars Tumbleweed Rover. Six feet in diameter, this inflatable ball was
designed to autonomously bounce and roll like tumbleweed, across Mars’ surface
to measure atmospheric conditions and geographical location. Like conventional
wind turbines, it was powered by unidirectional wind blows which severely
impaired the rover’s mobility when faced with obstructions, often throwing it
off course and resulting, ultimately, in the failure of the project.

By
exploring the limitations of the Tumbleweed, Nicolas’s three-dimensional wind
turbine technology was born. Nicolas and his fellow student Yaseen Noorani soon
identified how cities could use this technology to harness energy to produce
electricity.

How Does O-Wind Turbine Work?

O-Wind
Turbine is a 25cm sphere with geometric vents; it sits on a fixed axis and
spins when wind hits it from any direction. When wind energy turns the device,
gears drive a generator which converts the power of the wind into electricity.
This can either be used as a direct source of power, or it can be fed into the
electricity grid. Nicolas and Yaseen aim for O-Wind Turbine to be installed to
large structures such as the side of a building, or balcony, where wind speeds
are at their highest. Click here
to see the device in action.

Nicolas Orellana said:
“We hope that O-Wind Turbine will improve the usability and affordability of
turbines for people across the world. Cities are windy places but we are
currently not harnessing this resource. Our belief is that making it easier to
generate green energy, people will be encouraged to play a bigger own role in
conserving our planet. Winning the international James Dyson Award has
validated our concept. The attention we’ve received so far has been humbling
and given us the confidence to see the development of this concept as a future
career. Already we are in discussions with investors and we hope to secure a
deal in the coming months.”